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Stanford Health Care

Types

Our Approach to Ablation

For many people with atrial fibrillation (AFib) and certain other abnormal heart rates known as arrhythmias, medications do not work to reduce their symptoms. Cardiac ablation, a minimally invasive treatment, can successfully treat many arrhythmias, preventing serious complications such as sudden cardiac arrest.

Doctors at Stanford are at the forefront of research to improve cardiac ablation using the latest technologies. Our arrhythmia team is pioneering new ablation therapies that will lead to better outcomes for patients.

WHAT WE OFFER YOU FOR CARDIAC ABLATION

  • Active clinical research to advance new minimally invasive treatments such as cryoballoon ablation. Co-invented by our medical director, this procedure uses extreme cold to freeze arrhythmia-causing heart cells.
  • Leading expertise in FIRM ablation, a new technology for locating and treating the precise regions in your heart that cause arrhythmia. We were one of the first U.S. hospitals to offer this treatment.
  • Close collaboration with Stanford’s cardiac surgeons to develop a hybrid surgical-catheter ablation procedure for people with advanced AFib. A national clinical trial is currently underway.
     

INTERESTED IN AN ONLINE SECOND OPINION?

The Stanford Medicine Online Second Opinion program offers you easy access to our world-class doctors. It’s all done remotely, and you don’t have to visit our hospital or one of our clinics for this service. You don’t even need to leave home!

Visit our online second opinion page to learn more.

Make An Appointment

If you are a new patient and want to request and appointment or need help finding a doctor, please call 650-723-6459, Option 3.

If you are a returning patient, call 650-723-6459, Option 2, to request an appointment.

What Is Cardiac Ablation?

Types of Cardiac Ablation

Our doctors have years of experience in providing patients with safe, effective cardiac ablation treatment. We are committed to better outcomes through new ablation technologies to provide excellent care for people with AFib and other arrhythmias.

Catheter ablation

We offer minimally invasive procedures using catheters (thin, flexible tubes inserted through blood vessels) to access the heart. Our team has specialized expertise in advanced catheter ablation to treat most arrhythmias and certain types of structural heart disease.

Our doctors may opt to use a robotic system to control the movement of the catheters. The robotic system allows the electrophysiologist to have more precision and stability during the procedure, providing better outcomes.

Learn more about the different types of catheter ablation procedures we offer:

Hybrid surgical-catheter ablation

At Stanford, our arrhythmia team is one of the first to develop hybrid surgical-catheter ablation to treat persistent AFib. This ablation procedure combines catheterization with thoracoscopic surgery, a minimally invasive surgery involving a few small incisions in the abdomen.

Our surgeons begin the hybrid procedure using a thoracoscope (thin, lighted tube with a tiny camera at the end) and long, thin instruments. They access the area outside of the heart to perform ablation there. Our electrophysiologists then perform catheter ablation inside the heart. Learn more about hybrid surgical-catheter ablation and our participation in the national clinical trial for the procedure.

Surgical ablation

Our colleagues in heart surgery perform ablation using minimally invasive laparoscopy and open-heart surgical procedures. The surgeons use either energy (hot or cold) or cuts to create scar tissue on the heart. The scar tissue disrupts arrhythmias and creates new electrical pathways to restore a normal heartbeat pattern.

Because surgical ablation is more invasive, people usually have it only if they are already undergoing surgery for another heart condition. Learn more about heart surgery, including the maze procedure for surgical ablation.

Our Clinics

Cardiac Arrhythmia Service

Our experienced electrophysiologists provide superior care with a compassionate touch for people with all types of arrhythmias.

Our team includes experts from several heart specialties with decades of experience in patient-centered care.

View All Locations